I chatted with James Gray today about his whistle stop trip to see troops on the front line in Afghanistan at the end of last week.

It sounds like he was impressed with what he saw out there, as well as shocked at some of the conditions the soldiers, many of whom are from Wiltshire, are expected to serve in.

The biggest problem, said James, seems to be the appalling shortage of helicopters. Soldiers are having to stay on the front line longer than they ought to because there aren't enough operational choppers to ferry them out.

The conflict out there sounds like hell on earth. Troops are engaged daily in brutal, often hand to hand combat, with the enemy and yet few people back home know much about what is going on there.

He'll be writing about the trip in his column this week and then a longer piece with pictures next week.

He came across soldiers from 9 Supply at Buckley Barracks, Hullavington, airmen from RAF Lyneham and technical boffins from the MoD headquarters in Corsham.

He didn't meet Ross Kemp, who has been filming for Sky One out there. I've been following his Monday night show Ross Kemp in Afghanistan and decided it should be renamed I Nearly Died because ervery few minutes he makes reference to the fact he was at one point pinned down by sniper fire.

It really is very hard to take him seriously after the appearance on Extras in which he pretended to be a hard man who was really a sissy. Now every time you see him chatting to the troops I just think about the scene in Extras where the SAS told him their acronym stands for Super Army Soldiers.

WE had a press release the other day telling us that the police have organised a conference for businessmen in Trowbridge to discuss the effects of domestic violence. It is being held on Valentine's Day.